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January 31, 2017

January Blocks Roundup of 52 Weeks with The Quilter’s Planner

I love challenging myself with new techniques and some of
the quilt blocks featured this past month in the 52 Weeks with the Quilter’s Planner sew
along were no exception.

First up was the Unnamed block designed by Jane Armstrong of Jolly and Delilah. I loved the movement of one
side of the block balanced by the open space of the other. The trickiest part
was squaring up the block to ensure I had the central line positioned correctly
and didn’t lop off the points.

My favourite to piece was Doves in the Daylight by Michelle Bartholomew of Michelle Bartholomew Handmade Quilts.
Side bar – if you don’t already subscribe to Michelle’s monthly newsletter…what
are you waiting for?! I particularly love the quilter’s spotlight she features.
So fun! Anyways, I digress. This block has tiny squares too, and you have to
square several HSTs, but as I started laying it out it just made me happy. And
anytime I’m happy piecing a block is a win in my books!

I had to walk away and think about the Sand Dollar Star block a few times. I was having a mental block reading the pattern as to how
the paper pieced circle and outer border all came together. Seriously, I was so
confused. I kept saying to myself “it can’t be this difficult”! I got there in
the end. And when I did, it was a total “duh” moment. Ever have those while
quilting? I felt a little silly for a moment, and then brushed it off saying
“I’m allowed my quilty confused moments” 😉

The Pacific Sunset block designed by Andrea Bertone of The Sewing Fools looked really cool. I
particularly liked the solid colours featured in the planner. Since I’ve been
sticking with my scraps, I didn’t have the option of using only solids, which
would have been my preference. These blocks are tiny. I mean teeny tiny! The
little squares are only 1.5”.

As such, I feel the prints kind of get lost along the way. The
pattern shows a lot more movement/ delineation between the various coloured
blocks. Mine didn’t seem to show this as clearly. I triple checked the cutting
instructions and I’m not sure where it wrong. But I found that when I started
adding the white panels in between the rows, I ended up losing the floating
white blocks at the bottom. By the time I had to trim her up, I was lopping off
a good chunk of that white. Not sure what happened there.

I noticed on
Instagram a few of you had some issues as well. So, if you decide to tackle
this one – beware!! What I did love was joining the block by column instead of
by rows. I almost felt like I was rebelling against the standard quilt block
making approach 😉 Yes, this is what I think of while stitching away!

And I quite liked the checkered effect of
the solid prints that are placed between the hourglass blocks. For some reason
the block reminded me of the game Snakes and Ladder?!

In keeping with my 2017 goal of working my stash off, I’ve
selected my Alchemy scraps leftover from the Whimsical Quilt I made back in 2015, some indigo linen and white fabric to tackle these blocks.
I absolutely love the Alchemy line from Camelot Fabrics and I’m keeping my fingers
crossed I have enough to see me through this challenge; otherwise, I’m going to
have do some fabric scrap bin digging to see what else I can use up J

If you don’t have a copy of The Quilter’s Planner, you can
still follow along and tackle the 52 blocks by clicking here.
Angie from Gnome Angels is hosting this year-long sew along and, if you need a little more motivation, there
are plenty of prizes to win too!

I’m constantly checking out the
#52weekswiththequiltersplanner on Instagram to see everyone’s interpretation. I love how diverse our use of
fabrics end up being. So fun to see! If you decide to tackle these blocks, do
tag me so I can see what fabrics you end up using!!

2 comments:

I love your blocks Shannon! I had to smile because I have run into the exact same challenges you did while making these blocks. Oh and you are so right - Cheryl's block does remind me of Snakes & Ladders! :-)